3rd NCDD Conference Truly an Unparalleled Success!
A snapshot from the 2006 NCDD Conference plenary session. Like past events, new attendees and continued support from our community merged to generate an amazing energy that kept our participants engaged the entire weekend.
They say three?’s the charm, and now we understand why. The San Francisco Conference earlier this month was a more magical, powerful event than we could have imagined, and we hope to soon share everything that happened with the entire D&D community.
Many attendees commented that this was the best conference they had ever been to ?– even leaders in the field that have run plenty of their own conferences! There was an unmistakable spirit of excitement, camaraderie and hope in the air, and even the things that seemed not to work out as planned ended up just taking us to a deeper level than would have otherwise been possible.
Much of the success of this year?’s conference had to do with the planning team?’s attention to the flow of the event. Each plenary session built on the previous plenary to help us develop a collective sense of our past, present and future as individuals and as a community of practice. Our conference Theme Team (and theme performers) not only captured themes, ideas and insights related to future directions for the rapidly-growing D&D community, but they also made us all feel as if we had experienced many of the workshops instead of just a few. And conference M.C. Priya Parker was able to weave sessions together with warmth and clarity throughout the gathering.
The arts in general ?– drummers, spoken word poets, Peace Tiles, Illegal Arts installments, documentary filmmakers, and theme performers, all helped provide the event with a sense of vitality and magic that is hard to explain. And the skill and dedication of plenary and workshop session facilitators was beyond compare. Check out the Conference Blog to learn more about the cool stuff that went on in San Francisco! -- or explore more than 500 photos from the conference at Flickr.com.
Our Conference Guidebook is available online. Download it here in PDF format (it's a rather large file, 1.5MB).
New framework for choosing the right D&D process for your context
NCDD's new framework for helping people decide which dialogue and deliberation method(s) are most appropriate for their circumstance (our "diagnostic charts") are featured in the May 2006 issue of IAP2's Participation Quarterly publication. They are also being written into a book the United Nations Development Program is working on, they will be described in Sandy Heierbacher's chapter on D&D in the forthcoming 2nd Edition of The Change Handbook, and they are already being used by numerous D&D practitioners to help communities understand their options.
Download the Engagement Streams and Process Distinctions document, a series of two charts that categorize the D&D field into four streams based on intention or purpose (Exploration, Conflict Transformation, Decision Making, and Collaborative Action), and show which of the most well-known methods have proven themselves effective in which streams. The second chart also outlines 20 dialogue and deliberation methods, and includes information such as size of the group and how participants are selected. Print this document out on 8.5 x 14" paper.
You can also download a helpful handout we provide when we present the framework, which lists the methods on the processes chart and directs people to the best place online for finding out more about the model, getting assistance, or obtaining training in the method. This framework is a collaborative work-in-progress, so please do let us know how you think we can improve the charts.
Other noteworthy items...
Connect with D&D Practitioners and Scholars on the Thataway Forum
NCDD's Thataway Forum now boasts over 500 posts, and it's definitely worth checking out. On the Forum, you can provide the NCDD Board and Steering Committee with feedback and ideas for our strategic plan and other activities we're currently working on. You can look over the Katrina Forum we initiated to help folks in the dialogue & deliberation community stay on top of what people are doing and saying about the crisis and the various issues that Hurricane Katrina surfaced. You can discuss key issues facing the field. And you can ask your peers for advice on challenges you are facing in your work.
Help Distribute NCDD's Promotional Postcard!
Since Sandy and Andy (and NCDD Headquarters) relocated last year, we needed some new postcards that included our new contact info. Andy designed the cards, which feature photos from our 2002 and 2004 conferences and other gatherings on the front. The back outlines who we are as a Coalition, what we do, and the resources we provide.
We distribute these cards primarily at conferences and other events (they went into everyone's tote bags at the Canadian Conference on Dialogue & Deliberation, the Study Circles national conference, and the Victim Offender Mediation Association conference, for instance).
Let us know if you would be willing to bring a stack of postcards with you to the next conference you're attending. Perhaps you could include some NCDD postcards on your exhibit table, or in the registration packets of an event you're organizing. Email to let us know. We'd appreciate your help getting the word out about NCDD!
NCDD Members Database - Recently Updated!
Search our members database (which now includes many members' bios) or look over a complete but abbreviated list of members. Not sure if you're a member? Search for yourself - if you're not listed, please consider joining NCDD!
NCDD has Moved
The NCDD offices have moved to Boiling Springs, PA in south-central Pennsylvania (near the capital, Harrisburg and Carlisle, home of Dickinson College), and only a short drive from Washington, DC and New York City. Our new address and phone number can be found on our About Us page. Please update us in your database!
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